Karla Conlin
University of Colorado Boulder
Boulder, CO USA
"People are the same everywhere, no matter what you do. You may think one group is higher up or better than you, but they aren’t."
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Karla's work combines: Medicine, Science, and Helping People
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse
Northern New Mexico College
Life & Career Milestones
1.
I started out living in Boulder, CO , but then moved to New Mexico.
2.
I’ve had many careers, a lot having to do with bookkeeping and numbers.
3.
Some of my favorite work was as a vet tech, but I struggled making a living in it. I was sad to leave it.
4.
I had young kids and was living in rural New Mexico in one of the country’s poorest counties. Job opportunities were few and far between.
5.
I did temp work for the post office, grant writing, and bookkeeping work for people in the city. Without the technology for remote work, the drive became too much for me.
6.
I got into nursing because there was a hospital and a community college within an hour of where I lived.
7.
I didn’t graduate from nursing school until I was 40. I worked nights during the time I was in school and I later worked nights at the hospital in Boulder, CO.
8.
Once my kids were grown up, I went to work as a nurse at Colorado University in Boulder.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Peers:
You're less than, you're not worthy, you should doubt your career choice altogether.
How I responded:
The medical field is a hierarchy, especially in hospitals. There are surgeons or specialists at the top level who feel they’ve earned the right bully anyone below them. If you have a diverse background, those kinds of bullying tactics don’t wear you down as much as they could, because you’re confident that you can do lots of different things and stand up for yourself. I’ve also relied on friends and family and coworkers to get me through those hard times.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
In hospitals, you’re thrown into a world of sink or swim. You don’t get lunches, you’re overworked sometimes. You can work on no sleep with physical exhaustion, and you can be alone at night with no one to help you.